Mercy upon my soul
by nowcomeheremylove
Summary: Lusting after revenge Sweeney Todd one day bumps into the mysterious Tondeleya who's got a few secrets herself. And then there's Mrs. Lovett who eyes everyone that dares to look at the man of her dreams.


_**1- You're not scared, are you?**_

She was walking along the cold and grey streets of London, her thin dress barely warming or protecting her from the rain. But she liked the rain, it made people stay away from the streets. Less people who could recognize her and cause troubles. Although the dress was thin it made her struggle, being completely soaked. Keeping her eyes locked on the street, she walked on without really having a goal where she could go. Suddenly a pair of black boots appeared in front of her. Quickly she moved to the side, intending to make way for whoever was standing in front of her, but the person took a step to the side too. Shyly her view shot up eyeing whoever was standing in front of her through her lashes. " 'xcuse me" she mumbled and intended to let the tall man with the black curls pass. His eyes wandered over her and his presence made her feel even colder. Staring at his black boots again she didn't dare to look into his eyes, they were so dark and knew how to get secrets out of people. "You seem to be cold, my dear" he stated softly, slowly moving closer, leaving her no possibility to run away. Shaking she looked up again, unconsciously making herself smaller. "Mister?" she wondered what he wanted, somehow curious, although she had the strange feeling he was different than other passengers, that apologized and went on. "You should come with me, don't you think?" she could feel his breath and tried to avoid his gaze, a little part of her brain telling her, she was in great danger. Stepping from one foot to the other she gulped and shook her head, her black soaked hair falling into her face. Glad he couldn't see her face that well anymore she refused "No thank you, sir", but he interrupted her instantly, his deep voice becoming a slight tick louder, threateningly looking down at her. "You're not scared are you?" Through her eye lashes she saw his smirk, causing a shudder on her back. "You probably ran away somewhere, I should take you to the judge" he thought out loud and fiercely grabbed her arm. Gasping she bit her lower lip and wildly protested: "no, there's no need to bring me to the judge". She let him take her arm, knowing he'd only tighten his grasp, if she tried to get away from him. He was much stronger than her, just as any man was.

Only a second had passed since her last sentence and she went on "I'll come with you..., but don't take me to the judge", she knew it was her only chance to please this man, whatever he wanted. The necklace she wore felt cold between her breasts as he mentioned the judge. Seeing the strange man's smirk growing he let go of her arm, yet offered her his. Gulping she took it without a word, walking next to him through the rain. Not daring to speak, nor used to, there was no conversation, he remained as silent as she did, but watched her every now and then. An evaluating look, he tried to find out what was so special about her and why someone would walk through the streets of London in the dawn. Not just someone, but a young woman and alone. He lead her to another part of the city, where the houses were closer to each other with shops in the ground floors, although they were closed in the early evening on a Sunday. No living soul was to spot, they were completely alone. Shivering she noticed, that he could do anything to her, but tried to stay calm and told herself it wasn't worse than what would happen if he dragged her to the judge.

Not a single candle was lit, here lived the poor people, that was all she knew while her eyes wandered around spotting no one. Wondering how long the walk would last she peered up to him, not sure if she could dare to ask, when he stopped in front of a pie shop, that definitely had seen better days. Letting go of her arm he smiled a cheeky smile, that didn't reassure her, but only made him creepier, as he didn't leave her any other option, but walking up the stairs in front of him. The wet wood squealed and she was afraid to break through, but he kept walking behind her and she felt him becoming impatient already. Upstairs she let him pass to unlock the door. Through the dirty glass she only saw a chair and a huge window, that let the grey light pass into the room. With a hand moving he signaled her to step in and she did so, hearing a little bell as the door opened. Inside she looked around, spotting a broken mirror and a drawer besides of the chair, who seemed to be the heart of the room. Her heart started to beat faster as he closed the door harshly and took off his coat throwing it onto the chair. "What's your name, girl?", he asked sitting down in the chair and closing his eyes with a relieved and relaxed sigh. Daring to look at him, now that he had closed his eyes she replied "Tondeleya", seeing the holster on his belt and slowly realizing that he was a barber. He opened his eyes looking right into hers "unusual name", he stated, his gaze drilling into hers in a way that she hadn't felt before. Not taking a single step she felt some water dropping from her dress and knew, her lips were probably becoming blue by now as she was freezing. Biting them she tried to hide it, not wanting him to see, that her body was weak.

"Why are you on the run?", he asked, lazily putting his arms on the armrests, his eyes following his fingers, water dropping from the finger tips. Quite shocked she looked at his fingers as well. "On the run?", she repeated and although the cold made her shiver she felt her heart racing in panic and her cheeks blushing. "I'm not on the run", she added, trying to sound calmly, not sure how well she managed. As he moved his eyes upon her she gulped, seeing the mock in his dark eyes, that seemed to look right through her lie. "Alright I won't ask you again, but if you ever dare to lie to me again you'll regret it", he got up from the chair and approached her dangerously slow. Stuttering she nodded and bit her lip in fear. In front of her he looked along her whole body, realizing how wet she was and then shrugged, disappearing through a little door, which she hadn't seen earlier. Her unsteady breath started to slow down again as she looked after him. Not sure what to do she peered at the door, trying to figure out if she could simply disappear without him noticing, but then remembered the bell, that would immediately call him. "Mister?", she dared to ask standing in the room, which she now noticed was his working place. A small puddle started to form around her feet and she quickly stepped out of it, hoping he wouldn't notice and blame her. "What?", she heard his voice out of the room, sounding very annoyed and she gulped as he continued "come in". Glad she wouldn't have to stand outside any longer, but also fearing him she opened the door and stepped inside. He was lying in the bed, eyes closed. The room didn't contain much furniture, just a wardrobe, the bed and a bedside table with a razor and some matches on it. Realizing she was literally staring as she had been told never to do she blushed and lowered her head, right as he opened his eyes to look at her. Only peeking through her eye lashes she saw him waving her closer. Hesitantly she obeyed and stepped closer to the bed, not knowing any of his intentions. "You can stay one night, but I don't want to see you tomorrow", he stated coldly, looking right into her eyes, though she still avoided his gaze. "Is that understood?", he hissed and she nodded quickly, trying to hide her trembling fingers. Wondering why he even forced her to come with him when he wanted to throw her out the next day anyway she moved away from him, glad to be out of his reach. Slowly she moved into the corner as he closed his eyes again, completely ignoring her. Sitting down she hugged her knees to her chest as she was freezing from her soaked dress and hair.

Now that he had his eyes closed she could watch him and she truly wondered about his appearance. A white streak in the black curly hair, that seemed to be very messy and although he seemingly wanted to sleep he kept his pants and his vest on. Which could be, because of her presence. Quickly she lowered her head again, blushing again at the thought and as she had been on the run for many hours she quickly feel asleep, unlike him. His dark eyes remained on the ceiling hearing her steady breathing, that kept him from going completely insane. Forcing himself to fall asleep he had nightmares, just as usual, but none of them woke him up. He forced himself into the dark and fearsome sleep and her mind didn't even think about everything that happened, she didn't even have to cry herself to sleep like usual, her body was to exhausted and took the sleep it needed.


End file.
